Have you had a chance to look at our copper bird blanks yet? The soaring sparrow motif is hot right now, and these little pre-cut birds are a great base for adding mixed media techniques.
Design team artists Deryn Mentock and Barbe Saint John were recently inspired to use these little birds in their work.
It's interesting to me to see how these ladies think alike. When they submit their designs for the month, I find they've often chosen the same elements to work with without knowing it. Both artists have their own distinct styles, of course, so the projects never look the same even using the same elements.
Both ladies used the birds as a base to add enamel color to. Neither used a kiln to set the enamel, just fired it using their torches. Torch-fired enamel is a process that adds a rustic pop of color to your metals. Susan has been teaching a great enamels class this year, with plans for it in 2010.
In addition to her enameled bird, Deryn added a vintage crystal that she altered using some colored paper, a word and some ICE Resin to seal the mini college. Rustic beads, sterling silver wire and stuff from our grunge sparkle mix complete the design. (When turning in the design, Deryn wrote in her email how much she "loves working with the grunge sparkle" and commented how its one of her favorite objects and elements products).
Barbe torch-fired a gorgeous blue enamel onto the copper bird blank to create a colorful Paris necklace using our letters and numbers, which she added some French book text and sealed in ICE Resin. I'll be showing Barbe's fanciful necklace in the future, so all you have right now is a "sneak peek" of the project.
I hope today's post gave you some soaring inspiration as you head into the holiday season.
Have an artful day everyone! -- Jen
